Online dictionaryOnline dictionary
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home 		English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Parallel   /pˈɛrəlˌɛl/   Listen
adjective
Parallel  adj.  
1.
(Geom.) Extended in the same direction, and in all parts equally distant; as, parallel lines; parallel planes. "Revolutions... parallel to the equinoctial." Note: Curved lines or curved planes are said to be parallel when they are in all parts equally distant.
2.
Having the same direction or tendency; running side by side; being in accordance (with); tending to the same result; used with to and with. "When honor runs parallel with the laws of God and our country, it can not be too much cherished."
3.
Continuing a resemblance through many particulars; applicable in all essential parts; like; similar; as, a parallel case; a parallel passage.
Parallel bar.
(a)
(Steam Eng.) A rod in a parallel motion which is parallel with the working beam.
(b)
One of a pair of bars raised about five feet above the floor or ground, and parallel to each other, used for gymnastic exercises.
Parallel circles of a sphere, those circles of the sphere whose planes are parallel to each other.
Parallel columns, or Parallels (Printing), two or more passages of reading matter printed side by side, for the purpose of emphasizing the similarity or discrepancy between them.
Parallel forces (Mech.), forces which act in directions parallel to each other.
Parallel motion.
(a)
(Mach.) A jointed system of links, rods, or bars, by which the motion of a reciprocating piece, as a piston rod, may be guided, either approximately or exactly in a straight line.
(b)
(Mus.) The ascending or descending of two or more parts at fixed intervals, as thirds or sixths.
Parallel rod (Locomotive Eng.), a metal rod that connects the crank pins of two or more driving wheels; called also couping rod, in distinction from the connecting rod. Parallel ruler, an instrument for drawing parallel lines, so constructed as to have the successive positions of the ruling edge parallel to each other; also, one consisting of two movable parts, the opposite edges of which are always parallel.
Parallel sailing (Naut.), sailing on a parallel of latitude.
Parallel sphere (Astron. & Geog.), that position of the sphere in which the circles of daily motion are parallel to the horizon, as to an observer at either pole.
Parallel vise, a vise having jaws so guided as to remain parallel in all positions.


noun
Parallel  n.  
1.
A line which, throughout its whole extent, is equidistant from another line; a parallel line, a parallel plane, etc. "Who made the spider parallels design, Sure as De Moivre, without rule or line?"
2.
Direction conformable to that of another line, "Lines that from their parallel decline."
3.
Conformity continued through many particulars or in all essential points; resemblance; similarity. "Twixt earthly females and the moon All parallels exactly run."
4.
A comparison made; elaborate tracing of similarity; as, Johnson's parallel between Dryden and Pope.
5.
Anything equal to, or resembling, another in all essential particulars; a counterpart. "None but thyself can be thy parallel."
6.
(Geog.) One of the imaginary circles on the surface of the earth, parallel to the equator, marking the latitude; also, the corresponding line on a globe or map; as, the counry was divided into North and South at the 38th parallel.
7.
(Mil.) One of a series of long trenches constructed before a besieged fortress, by the besieging force, as a cover for troops supporting the attacking batteries. They are roughly parallel to the line of outer defenses of the fortress.
8.
(Print.) A character consisting of two parallel vertical lines (thus,) used in the text to direct attention to a similarly marked note in the margin or at the foot of a page.
9.
(Elec.) That arrangement of an electrical system in which all positive poles, electrodes, terminals, etc., are joined to one conductor, and all negative poles, etc., to another conductor; called also multiple. Opposed to series. Note: Parts of a system so arranged are said to be in parallel or in multiple.
Limiting parallels. See under Limit, v. t.
Parallel of altitude (Astron.), one of the small circles of the sphere, parallel to the horizon; an almucantar.
Parallel of declination (Astron.), one of the small circles of the sphere, parallel to the equator.
Parallel of latitude.
(a)
(Geog.) See def. 6. above.
(b)
(Astron.) One of the small circles of the sphere, parallel to the ecliptic.


verb
Parallel  v. t.  (past & past part. paralleled; pres. part. paralleling)  
1.
To place or set so as to be parallel; to place so as to be parallel to, or to conform in direction with, something else. "The needle... doth parallel and place itself upon the true meridian."
2.
Fig.: To make to conform to something else in character, motive, aim, or the like. "His life is paralleled Even with the stroke and line of his great justice."
3.
To equal; to match; to correspond to.
4.
To produce or adduce as a parallel. (R.) "My young remembrance can not parallel A fellow to it."


Parallel  v. i.  (past & past part. paralleled; pres. part. paralleling)  To be parallel; to correspond; to be like. (Obs.)





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |
Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar




"Parallel" Quotes from Famous Books



... States; a member of the Romish Church; a woman of obscure birth, poor and portionless, and in ill-health; worse than all, a public woman, who had sung for money, and yet who had made Harry desert his home and country and profession for her. And with this train of thought another ran parallel,—the shame and the wrong of it all. The disgrace to his wife and daughters, the humiliation to himself. Each bitter thought beat on his heart like the hammer on the anvil. They fought and blended with each ...
— The Squire of Sandal-Side - A Pastoral Romance • Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
... always, she had access to almost all of him; but now she did not have access to his unguessable torment, nor to the long parallel columns of mental book-keeping running their totalling balances from moment to moment, day and night, in his brain. In one column were her undoubtable spontaneous expressions of her usual love and care for him, her many acts of comfort-serving ...
— On the Makaloa Mat/Island Tales • Jack London
... stepping-stone to higher things, was now widely regarded as a stumbling-block. Though far from a scientific conception of natural law, many men had become sufficiently monistic in their philosophy to see in the current hagiolatry a sort of polytheism. Erasmus freely drew the parallel between the saints and the heathen deities, and he and others scourged the grossly materialistic form which this worship often took. If we may believe him, fugitive nuns prayed for help in hiding their sin; merchants for a rich haul; ...
— The Age of the Reformation • Preserved Smith
... the flaws and failures of female intelligence that the parallel applies. A very pleasant old parson, whom I knew when I was a boy, and who used to discourse to me much about Edmund Burke and Gavin Hamilton, told me once that he met old Primate Stewart one day returning from a visitation, and turned his horse round to accompany the carriage for some distance. ...
— Cornelius O'Dowd Upon Men And Women And Other Things In General - Originally Published In Blackwood's Magazine - 1864 • Charles Lever
... thing to delay the train was an elephant, who walked the track ahead of us and when the engine whistled only put on speed. Hypnotized by the tracks that reached in parallel lines to the horizon, with trunk outstretched, ears up, and silly tail held horizontally he set himself the impossible task of leaving us behind. The more we cheered, the more the engine screamed, the fiercer and less dignified ...
— The Ivory Trail • Talbot Mundy


More quotes...


Copyright © 2025 Dictionary One.com